Read Online Ai of the Mountain (A Fairy Retelling #2) by Dorian Tsukioka - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Dorian Tsukioka
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situation. Perhaps just changing my outlook will help – maybe my situation is not nearly as dire as it seems.
I enter the house and thank the doctor for caring for my mother while I was gone. She is recovering bit-by-bit. After he leaves, I help her to work on the exercises he instructed her to do and am encouraged to see even more improvement in her coordination. The exercises wear her out quickly though, and I help her back to her futon for a rest.
The house is quiet as Mother naps. It will be hours yet before Father arrives home. It is the perfect time to talk to Grandfather Koi. I wonder what he thinks I should do. I quietly close the door to the house and walk with a new-found spring in my step towards the river. I am holding on to hope, just as the old man said.
It is his boots I see first as I make my way around the maple tree. And it is his sword that I see next. I stop suddenly. The afternoon light reflects from the surface of the river, bouncing off the jagged-edge metal of the blade. I have never seen a sword like this. The edge is serrated, the end, barbed and menacing. I know it is an inanimate thing; there is no life in it. Yet, I can almost see waves of evil exuding from it.
“Konnichiwa, Ai-chan,” Lord Nakaguchi says with a bow, holding the sword in his hand.
Chapter 7
“Hello,” I say, trying to keep my eyes on Lord Nakaguchi’s face, but my gaze slips to the wicked-looking sword in his hand. “What are you doing here, my lord?”
“Your lord, is it? I think we can both agree that I am not, nor will I ever be, your lord.” I swallow hard and try not to show the fear bubbling up inside of me. “But, don’t worry,” he says. “I can’t fault you for that. You know what you want. And you don’t want me. I don’t understand why, but I can respect your decision.” His words seem reasonable enough, and I would be inclined to believe him, if it weren’t for the blade in his hand.
“I appreciate that,” I say.
He smiles. “I hoped you would. By the way, this,” he motions to the sword, “has nothing to do with you.”
“I’m very glad to hear that.” The words, ‘my lord’ almost escape my lips, but I choke them back just in time. The daimyo seems rational enough for now, and I have no wish to agitate him. “I am honored that you would come to visit. Is there something I can do for you?”
The daimyo’s tight-lipped smile stretches even further across his face. He pulls out the four, golden, rose-shaped coins and holds them in his hands for me to see. “I hoped we might have a conversation about these.”
I say nothing. It might be more prudent to follow the daimyo’s lead, rather than try to steer the conversation. Hopefully, I will be able to placate his curiosity, if that is all this is, without further damaging my family’s relationship to him. If that’s even possible.
“Here is what I think,” Lord Nakaguchi begins. “I think it is very strange that a young, seemingly penniless girl from the mountains, could suddenly find herself lucky enough to be in the possession of four, valuable coins such as these. It is so strange, in fact, that I think it’s impossible that you simply found them, or mysteriously came to be in their possession. I thought over and over again about the strangeness of these coins.
“When you left so hastily from my castle today, I decided to send a guard to retrieve you. With all the frenzy surrounding the construction of the castle, it should have been easy to find a guard, but I searched the interior of the castle through, and there was no one to be found. Finally, I went outside, and found my whole company of guards standing outside the edge of the forest, mesmerized by a throng of red foxes, scampering just outside the gate. I have never seen anything like it myself, and for a moment I was annoyed that the commotion made it necessary for me to search so far for a guard.
“Just as I was about to call one over to
I enter the house and thank the doctor for caring for my mother while I was gone. She is recovering bit-by-bit. After he leaves, I help her to work on the exercises he instructed her to do and am encouraged to see even more improvement in her coordination. The exercises wear her out quickly though, and I help her back to her futon for a rest.
The house is quiet as Mother naps. It will be hours yet before Father arrives home. It is the perfect time to talk to Grandfather Koi. I wonder what he thinks I should do. I quietly close the door to the house and walk with a new-found spring in my step towards the river. I am holding on to hope, just as the old man said.
It is his boots I see first as I make my way around the maple tree. And it is his sword that I see next. I stop suddenly. The afternoon light reflects from the surface of the river, bouncing off the jagged-edge metal of the blade. I have never seen a sword like this. The edge is serrated, the end, barbed and menacing. I know it is an inanimate thing; there is no life in it. Yet, I can almost see waves of evil exuding from it.
“Konnichiwa, Ai-chan,” Lord Nakaguchi says with a bow, holding the sword in his hand.
Chapter 7
“Hello,” I say, trying to keep my eyes on Lord Nakaguchi’s face, but my gaze slips to the wicked-looking sword in his hand. “What are you doing here, my lord?”
“Your lord, is it? I think we can both agree that I am not, nor will I ever be, your lord.” I swallow hard and try not to show the fear bubbling up inside of me. “But, don’t worry,” he says. “I can’t fault you for that. You know what you want. And you don’t want me. I don’t understand why, but I can respect your decision.” His words seem reasonable enough, and I would be inclined to believe him, if it weren’t for the blade in his hand.
“I appreciate that,” I say.
He smiles. “I hoped you would. By the way, this,” he motions to the sword, “has nothing to do with you.”
“I’m very glad to hear that.” The words, ‘my lord’ almost escape my lips, but I choke them back just in time. The daimyo seems rational enough for now, and I have no wish to agitate him. “I am honored that you would come to visit. Is there something I can do for you?”
The daimyo’s tight-lipped smile stretches even further across his face. He pulls out the four, golden, rose-shaped coins and holds them in his hands for me to see. “I hoped we might have a conversation about these.”
I say nothing. It might be more prudent to follow the daimyo’s lead, rather than try to steer the conversation. Hopefully, I will be able to placate his curiosity, if that is all this is, without further damaging my family’s relationship to him. If that’s even possible.
“Here is what I think,” Lord Nakaguchi begins. “I think it is very strange that a young, seemingly penniless girl from the mountains, could suddenly find herself lucky enough to be in the possession of four, valuable coins such as these. It is so strange, in fact, that I think it’s impossible that you simply found them, or mysteriously came to be in their possession. I thought over and over again about the strangeness of these coins.
“When you left so hastily from my castle today, I decided to send a guard to retrieve you. With all the frenzy surrounding the construction of the castle, it should have been easy to find a guard, but I searched the interior of the castle through, and there was no one to be found. Finally, I went outside, and found my whole company of guards standing outside the edge of the forest, mesmerized by a throng of red foxes, scampering just outside the gate. I have never seen anything like it myself, and for a moment I was annoyed that the commotion made it necessary for me to search so far for a guard.
“Just as I was about to call one over to
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